Aching Destiny
by KyoKyon
Summary: Some things in life cannot be changed. So what is Shikamaru doing standing here as the blonde ripped all notions of normal to hell?Sasu/Naru, Naru/Shika friendship.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

"_Sorrow seeps into your heart through a pinhole_

_Just like a faucet that leaks_

_And there is comfort in the sound_

_But it slowly rises _

_Your love is gonna drown"_

_**Death Cab for a Cutie**__ – Marching Bands of Manhattan _

……………………………

Shikamaru shifted on his feet, adjusting the strap of the school bag and just generally wishing he was anywhere but here. In front of him, he watched as his mother continued scolding his father for his 'irresponsible' ways of never setting a good example for their only child. Their only child, Shikamaru, rolled his eyes and huffed as he stood from one foot to the other. Finally, he cried, "Mum, I'm going to be late if you keep on scolding Dad! Come on!"

Their mother scowled and then sighed, unable to keep being angry at her lazy husband and son whom seemed to be destined to be exactly like him. Her husband looked at her, pouting apologetically. Bursting into giggles, she took a soft swipe at him, laughing as he winced and pretended to rub his bruise. She smiled and kissed him softly, unable to believe that she had ever been angry with this man. She had been married to him for almost 15 years and although he had made her hair literally rise with anger, he was also able to make her laugh. All in all, his ability to make her laugh outweighed any deeds he did do, or did not do in his case.

"God, you guys are so gross," she heard their son Shikamaru huff out exasperatingly, disgust evident in his voice at his parents kissing in front of him. She let her husband go and ushered them off out of the door, waving to them as Shikamaru threw himself in the car with her husband waving cheerfully before driving out of the driveway.

Shikamaru let his eyes rove past the scenery as his Dad drove past the houses towards his school. He let himself nearly drift away, enjoying the music when his Dad slammed on the brakes, nearly choking Shikamaru in the process as he was thrown forward and the seat belt cut painfully. The painfully screeching of the tyres made his teeth grit and as he literally got thrown back in the seat, his bag lying on the floor of the seat, he heard his father curse loudly.

"HEY, ARE YOU TRYING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED?" his father literally screamed, the window thrown open and making to get himself out of his seatbelt and out onto the road where he could get to the person whom had nearly killed them all.

Shikamaru, after making sure that his head was still attached to his shoulder, looked up curiously to see who had nearly gotten them killed. His eyes took in the boy as he stood there defiantly, looking at them with narrow eyes. His shock of blonde hair fell nearly past his shoulder, his mouth curled in unhappiness _(pain?)_ and what struck Shikamaru the most was the fact that his eyes were so blue, that it nearly rivaled out the sky. He should know. He spent most of his lunch time staring at the said sky during lunch with his best friend, Chouji.

The boy's fists was curled at his sides and although he looked at the car and its occupants (his father still struggling with the seatbelt, shaky fingers unable to get a real grasp at the release), it was soon diverted to the side and catching sight of what he was looking for, he ran off.

Shikamaru gaped as the boy ran off so fast that it seemed like he had nearly disappeared.

"That's it, you're going to get it!" his father roared valiantly, finally getting free of the seatbelt but just gaped stupidly at the empty spot in front of the car. Shikamaru ran a hand through his hair, scowling.

"Where did that punk go?"

……………………….

"Did you know that they're saying that there's a haunted place out in that abandoned estate at the outskirts of the town?"

Shikamaru hummed his answer as he stared at the cloudy sky, Chouji next to him, munching on his chips as he chatted to his mostly silent friend.

"Apparently, Kiba and some of his friends tried to enter the house on a dare and they met this ghost. It was so creepy and stuff. I heard it tried to kill them! I heard the house was owned by an old lady who was into black magic and when she was dying, she cursed the house so that whatever secrets she had would never fall into the wrongs hands. There's apparently a demon guarding the house and its favorite snack is human bones," Chouji said, the horror creeping into his voice, the steady crunch of the chips getting faster.

"You know, the story is probably twisted and I don't think there's even a demon. Probably an old lady whom died, leaving a couple of cats going wild and that's probably the demon," Shikamaru snorted, disdain coloring his voice.

Chouji looked at his clever friend, seeming to think over this logic and nodded slowly.

"Maybe you're right but you won't know till you're there and that's why we're going there after school with Kiba, Shino, Ino and Lee,"

"What? I never agreed to that!" Shikamaru cried out, sitting up immediately, scowling.

"Either way Kiba's going to drag you into that place. You know what he's like. Besides I want to go and see the house and see what it's like," Chouji said so matter of factly that Shikamaru knew he had no choice in the matter.

Scowling, he was about to say something when the bell rang and just like that lunch was over, Chouji beamed as he crushed his empty crisps bag, knowing that he was just saved by the bell.

Lucky him.

………………………..

Shikamaru wondered for the thousandth time what the hell he was doing with his friends, crouched behind a rotten wooden fence. Calling himself stupid, he scowled as he tried to glare a hole in the rotten wood.

"Oi, now!" a loud whisper cut through to his curses and he nearly stumbled as Chouji pushed into him, in a bid to hurry him. Scowling and jabbing behind him into Chouji's soft stomach, he was rewarded by the sound of a painful intake of breath behind him and smirking vindictively, he scurried forward, keeping an eye on the grey jacket in front of him which belonged to his friend Shino.

He didn't know how Shino had been roped into this but knowing that his best friend was Kiba, he could sympathize with Shino. Kiba had enough opinions for two and the annoying persuading power of a hill of red ants. Nearly tripping on a protruding root, he cursed softly and tried to keep an eye out for more roots. Finally reaching their destination which turned out to be a hole in the mostly rotten fence, he waited for his turn impatiently to crawl through the hole in the fence, not minding the fact that he could barely fit in there. He just wanted to get this done and over with.

"How am I going to fit in there?" he heard Chouji whisper frantically behind him.

"I'm sure you will fit in there, do not give up!" he heard Lee whisper almost too loudly before being shushed by everyone in the group. Leaning from foot to foot, he finally had enough of the argument.

"I'll go in first and then when you guys decide to come in, I'll be waiting for you," he snapped, impatience lacing his voice. His mum was so going to kill him for being late. Going down on his knees, he wiggled his way into the hole and nearly sneezing at the leaves which were threatening to shove themselves up his nose and mouth, he tore a way through the plants, panting as his popped out of the bushes. Dragging his limbs out, he stood, dusting his pants and shirt frantically.

"Oi, Shikamaru, you alright?" a faint voice called from behind.

"Yea, yea, hurry up," he snapped back, finally looking up to see what he had gotten himself into.

A chill crawled past his spine as he took in the sight of the house. A traditional Japanese home stood there, sprawling over the land, the paper doors mostly torn and hanging off the slide and Shikamaru shivered. From where he was standing, which was quite far, it felt like those doors looked like the eyes of the house and he did not like the way it felt; like it was staring at him. Trees were lining the way towards the house. Looking around him, he could easily see, despite the overgrown grass and weeds that the space he was standing in could have been a garden or a lawn.

The winds blew past softly and the tree rustled in unison, causing Shikamaru to break out in goose bumps, sounding like a crowd of people whispering in muted sound.

His heart leapt into his throat as he thought he saw someone looking at him through one of the doors, its shadow imprinted faintly on the paper thin torn door. His feet carried him forward while his mind screamed at him to run. The heavy steps of his feet raised dread in his stomach, making him nauseous from fear. It seemed like he was walking forward since forever. Finally reaching the steps of the house which led to the balcony of the house, he tried not to shiver and wonder what was living in the space between the steps and the balcony.

Dreadful thoughts of a dark yawning space reaching out to swallow him plagued him and he would feel the bile rising in his throat as he trembled, unable to climb the steps. He felt faint, swaying gently as the thoughts nearly over powered him. He simply had the nauseating urge to fall onto his knees and simply crawl to the doom that awaited him, to put an end to the fear and misery he was currently being involved in.

"You shouldn't be here, you know," a husky voice called out and Shikamaru was snapped out of his fear trance, whirling around to the source of the voice coming from behind him.

He could only gape as his mind caught up as to who he was looking at. The boy who had nearly gotten his father and him killed! Mouth gaping open, no sound coming forth from his tight throat, he found himself blacking out, the rush of fear, adrenaline and nausea becoming too much his body to handle.

………………………….


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and this plot was based loosely *very* on an anime I saw "Brave World". The concept anyway. I found the anime a bit childish but in a moment of impulse, I bought it and I never regretted it although the incorrect subtitles irked me, I enjoyed it. The general mood of the anime depressed me but then ending was worth it. Please enjoy.**

**Chapter Two****:**

_  
"I'll say it straight and plain_

_I know I've made mistakes_

_I've always been afraid_

_A thousands nights are gone_

_I've traveled east and north_

_Please answer the phone_

_Can you tell me?_

_They say that love goes anywhere_

_In your darkest time, _

_It's just enough to know it's there"_

_**Jimmy Eat World**__ – Polaris_

……………………………………………………..

Shikamaru felt the world slowly swimming back into view as he opened his eyes slowly, groaning at the dull pain at his shoulders.

What the hell happened?

Recalling suddenly the events that had taken place in the past hour, he stood up with a strangled yell before promptly falling down, knees thudding painfully on the ground.

"You're going to hurt yourself if you don't calm down," a calm voice said from his side. Jumping onto his feet, he stared confusedly at his 'rescuer', a wave of disorientation nearly overwhelming him. A cold can was thrust into his hands. Gratefully, Shikamaru opened the drink and gulped it down, grateful for the biting fuzziness of the drink as it went down his throat, burning soothingly.

A burp was ripped out of him as he finished the drink in one go. For a moment, he stood there astonished at the loudness and the suddenness of the burp. A stifled giggle was heard from his side and Shikamaru glanced at his side. The blonde was clutching a similar can in his hands and he was giggling helplessly _(achingly sweetly)_, his fringe falling in his face, a slight blush covering his cheeks as a tanned hand tried to muffle his giggles. Shikamaru felt a blush creep onto his cheeks as he huffed and tried to pretend that he did not just let a loud one rip. But his facial muscles twitched as the blonde tried to muffle his giggles and a giggle gurgled out of his throat. He saw the blonde look at him, astonished. The expression on his face must have looked like he was in the throes of constipation for another giggle hiccupped out of the blonde.

Looking at the blonde painfully giggle, he couldn't stop the flow of laughter which finally managed to make him gasp.

And the two boys innocently laughed, the hilarity of the situation not escaping the two of them.

…………………….

"So what were you doing there?" Shikamaru asked after the two of them had calmed down, breaking the comfortable silence that had hung over them as Naruto slowly sipped on the canned drink.

Shikamaru watched as the boy looked up, frowning slightly, contemplating. Faint whisker marks that ran across his cheeks wrinkled as he broke into a wide grin.

"Searching."

"For what?"

The blonde looked at him, looking troubled for a split second, the emotion flashed by so suddenly that Shikamaru wondered if he had even seen that emotion. The boy raised his index finger to his lips, leaning forward as if to whisper and Shikamaru found himself leaning forward as if to catch the faint secret that would pass between them.

"It's a s-e-c-r-e-t," he whispered, azure eyes wide and serious.

Shikamaru snorted and leaned back again against the hardness of the bench, letting his head fall back, taking in the view of the stars that sprinkled above them.

For a moment, he had really thought that he was going to be told a huge secret but it seems like the blonde had a sense of humor that far surpassed his own. What a minute?! Stars?!

Yelping as he stood up in a hurry, shocking the other boy too, he grabbed his bag, "Sorry, but my mum is going to kill me. She doesn't let me stay out past seven. I am so dead meat! I'll see you around?"

At the boy's nod, Shikamaru waved goodbye and he started dashing towards the direction of home, allowing himself to take one last look at the mysterious boy. His head was tilted all the way back, eyes wide and blank, the drink forgotten and Shikamaru found that he had only one word to describe the expression on his new friend's face; Lost.

…………….

Shikamaru's mood darkened as he walked, slouching through the hallway, letting the noise of his school mates wash over him. Walking outdoors, he spotted his traitorous friends and felt his mood darken. They waved towards him and he reluctantly made his way over, throwing his bag to the ground and slouching himself down on the bench.

Noticing Shikamaru's mood, his friends shared a nervous look, Chouji taking a huge blind leap in trying to explain themselves.

"Uh, when did you get home?"

If possible, Shikamaru's mood got even darker as he recalled what had happened when he had reached home two hours past his curfew. His mother had been ready to chew her way through the carpet in worry and when he had shown up, she had wasted no time in ripping into him. The end of the huge one sided brawl had been that he was grounded for two weeks. Shikamaru had not dared to even to protest in the face of his fire breathing mother.

"Nine," he curtly grunted, taking a small bite of his sandwich.

"Man, that was late. What were you doing?" Kiba broke in, his sense of doom being impaired as he dug his elbows into Shikamaru's side teasingly.

"I WAS STUCK IN THAT STUPID PLACE AND NONE OF YOU EVEN CAME IN! LUCKY-"Shikamaru yelled, his friends utterly shocked by his yells but he broke off, suddenly not wanting to mention his new friend. Nor did he want them to realize he had fainted, he admitted sullenly, picking his sandwich back up again.

"We're really sorry we left you but that place was really creepy. We were trying to squeeze Chouji through when there was this weird noise, like someone laughing or something. We got so freaked out that we pulled Chouji out and yelled like crazy for you to come out," Kiba started explaining, waving his hands wildly.

"You yelled out?" Shikamaru asked, puzzled.

"Yeah! But you never answered! It was like totally silent and then there was a freaky wind blowing and before we knew it, we kinda ran away," Kiba finished lamely, rubbing his hands behind his bowed head.

Shikamaru grunted and turned towards his sandwich, frowning. He had not heard them yell out. The distance from the fence to where he was standing had only been a couple of meters away and he didn't doubt it when his friends said they had yelled out for them. So why hadn't he heard them? Maybe it was because he had fainted?

Feeling a slight nudge, he turned to see Chouji offer him his bag of crisps in an offer of peace and Shikamaru accepted, smiling slightly though he was still troubled.

………………….

Shikamaru reached for the book, using his left hand to brace himself against the shelf. Fingers brushing past the spine of the book, he let out a whoosh of breath as the book fell neatly in his hands. Turning to go back to his table, he saw a flash of blonde pass one of the shelves.

It looked like the blonde boy he had met almost two weeks ago. Curiosity overcoming him, he walked in the general direction of where he had caught a glimpse of the boy and found himself looking at empty rows of bookshelves. Shikamaru looked through all the rows and was puzzled at not finding anyone in that section. He swore he had seen the blonde pass him, through the corner of his eyes.

"Looking for something?"

Yelping, Shikamaru jumped around, scowling to face a familiar blonde.

"How do you manage to always sneak up on me?" he accused, sounding petulant even to his ears.

The boy simply grinned and shrugged. Shikamaru scowled for another moment before simply deciding he was no longer in a mood to be petulant.

"Hey, I never did catch your name!"

The blonde looked puzzled, cocking his head to the side as if it was Shikamaru's fault that he had not been introduced.

"My name's Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto."

"Nara Shikamaru."

Looking at Naruto's hand, he saw a book clutched there.

"_Legends and Tales of Konoha,"_ he read out, tilting his head to get a better look. Naruto grinned and righted the book to allow him to see the title and the cover page better. The front page was a simply design of a leaf embalm that usually could be found all over town.

"I didn't know you were interested in these things. Was that why you were in the compound that day?" Shikamaru asked.

"You could say it's something like that," Naruto hummed, lightly caressing the book. Watching the blonde, he felt like he was always missing something about Naruto's mannerism.

"In the legends of old, it was said that Konoha had been attacked by a fox spirit when humans started to be get too overconfident. The fox spirit had always been a gentle spirit but it could not stand the humans as they started to encroach on its sacred grounds, disregarding the laws of the forest and all that fell under its protection. It attacked Konoha and in the battle, a lot of human lives were lost but finally a priestess managed to seal the fox in a shrine. Her life was lost in the process of sealing the fox. Upon seeing that the priestess was selflessly sacrificing her life, the fox began to understand that while most humans were by nature selfish and cruel, there could also be some humans that would sacrifice themselves to protect their precious ones. Before it was sealed, the fox spirit feeling great regret for the priestess, allowed for the priestess to make a wish. The priestess refused, claiming that she did not want to disrupt Fate. This was her destiny and she had no regrets in embracing it. Her only regret was that she would never be able to raise her only child."

Naruto let his fingers trace the spine of the book, eyes cloudy as he recalled the legend. Looking up, he shrugged as he finished his tale, "No one knows what happened to the shrine where the fox was sealed and there have been no records of the priestess only child. But it has been speculated that the wish that the fox left has been sealed within the shrine too but only the descendent of the priestess can harness the wish provided the shrine can be found."

Shikamaru listened, entranced with the tale, noting the wistfulness in Naruto's voice.

"What was the name of the priestess?" he asked.

"Shikamaru! What're you doing? We've been waiting for you to grab your books and you're standing there, loitering!" Ino scolded as she hastily walked towards him. Shikamaru scowled, folding his arms in annoyance, "I was talking to Naruto when you-"

"Who?"

"Naruto!" he exclaimed, exasperated, turning to face his friend. No one stood there, only a fallen book on the floor. Shikamaru felt his mouth go dry as he stood there in disbelief. He had only been talking to Naruto only moments before! Shikamaru felt dizzy, looking at the book lying innocently on the floor.

"Shika, you alright?" Ino's worried voice came as though from a distance. Shikamaru forced himself to nod, crouching slowly to take the book lying on the floor. Tracing his fingers through the index, he found the page he wanted, ignoring Ino's worried voice behind him.

The book flipped easily and he traced the words with his fingers, silently mouthing the words, the legend that had just been narrated to him. His mouth traced the name of the priestess, "Uzumaki."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. **

**Author's Note: I took some time off from this fanfiction because the inspiration sort of ran away but now I'm back. I'm so totally obsessed with angst and stuff like that. Ugh. Screwed up head of mine. Anyway, please review and I would like to thank the current reviewers. I am really encouraged to go on, my inspiration has come back! Generally, I don't answer reviews because I can only access the Net very randomly and rarely so I mostly just write and upload in future. Thank you though. Please enjoy.**

**P.S. If Shika seems very OC to you, its well, coz he had to grow up in a world where death didn't hound him and well, he's just an ordinary boy in this fic.**

**Chapter 3**

Shikamaru always prided himself in being a practical person. Sure, he was smarter than he would have liked but he was still practical. He knew what he wanted to do in his life. He wanted to bum around, get an ordinary job that would allow him to be relaxed, hang out with his friends, maybe get married as well but even in that, he knew that he wanted a woman who was ordinary and did not nag too much. His mother had put in a fear of nagging women in him forever and one current example of whom he did **not** want to marry was his currently troublesome childhood friend, Ino Yamanaka.

He sighed again as he allowed his arm to be nearly ripped off at the sockets as Ino chattered excitedly. He was unlucky in that way. The troublesome girl always managed to find him and drag him off to _socialize_ when all he wanted to do was nap. But he knew his childhood friend well, so he knew better than to argue with her. All he could do was to follow her and hope she won't be too troublesome.

………….

Later that night, as Shikamaru lay on his bed, he allowed his mind wander back to the library. It was really strange how Naruto had disappeared, like he was never there, the abandoned book the only indication that he had even been there.

It was like he was a ghost….and Shikamaru's thoughts stopped there, the realization hitting him hard, making his mouth go dry. He had been talking to a _ghost_ all this time?!

No wonder he was the only one who could see him and…wait a minute! His Dad had seen him too that morning, when he nearly ran over Naruto! What the hell?! And ghosts couldn't touch things. Naruto had been holding the book when he had met him in library.

Brows furrowed, Shikamaru noisily sighed, turning to his side. He wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery surrounding Naruto.

The questions buzzed around in his head and before he knew it, he was off into sleep.

………….

Shikamaru felt annoyed as he pushed through the bushes, getting small irritating scratches on his bare limbs. He wished he had put on his jeans instead of his shorts but it was too late.

He just hoped there was no poison ivy. Last thing he needed was stupid rashes, ugh. That was why he hated troublesome things like this, but he simply had to see Naruto again and the only place he knew for certain that Naruto might be was the old house.

And to get to the old house, he had to go through all the bushes and crawl through the fence again. Grunting lightly, he squirmed his way through, the dirt getting on his shorts and shirt. Knowing his mum would be nagging his ears off later, he didn't bother brushing it off too much. He would still get scolded either way so what was the point on trying to keep it from getting dirtier. Might as well earn the scolding.

He sighed again.

"Do you _always_ sigh like that?" the teasing voice stated behind him and Shikamaru yelped, whirling around to see Naruto grinning at him.

"_Don't_ sneak up on me. Jeez, you could have killed me, you know!" Shikamaru snapped, placing a hand on his chest where he could feel his heart racing as if trying to jump out of his chest.

Naruto chuckled again, a hand cupping his mouth endearingly. Shikamaru felt the familiar brush of warmth rush through him as he watched Naruto. He didn't know why but he felt that there was something about Naruto that was special.

It was idiotic, he knew, feeling like such a _girl_ whenever Naruto smiled in that endearing way but he couldn't help it.

"So what brings you here?"

Naruto's question brought Shikamaru out of his musings abruptly. He straightened up, frowning at Naruto's figure. He went nearer to Naruto, inspecting him like a hound, poking him randomly.

"Oi, what're you doing? I'm ticklish…Ack! Oi!" Naruto tried to squirm out of Shikamaru's probing fingers.

"Trying to see if sunlight passes through you," was the mystic answer he got as Naruto watched, gaping, at Shikamaru put up his hand and actually _squinted_ at it as if expecting the sunlight to pass through his solid hand. His friend actually looked disappointed that the hand seemed to be as solid as it felt.

"Are you on drugs or something?" Naruto asked bluntly, pushing Shikamaru slightly. The pony tail boy scowled and muttered something.

"Huh?"

"I SAID that it was weird how you disappeared like that yesterday," Shikamaru stated, voice exasperated.

"I was trying to avoid your friend, ya know. She looked like your girlfriend or something."

Shikamaru sputtered, a blush creeping up his neck.

"She is NOT my GIRLFRIEND!" Shikamaru practically roared, the thought horrifying him. He shuddered as Naruto shrugged apologetically and grinning. Ino was exactly the type of woman he would never marry. Gah!

"You're weird." Naruto pointed out in a matter of fact sort of voice that made Shikamaru want to throttle him. It was less troublesome than actually throttling Naruto!

"I am not weird…"

"You are…ya think sunlight can pass through my hands, that I disappear in thin air…what else?"

"It's just…"

Shikamaru hesitated. Of course Naruto would think he was weird. He would think he was weird too if someone did that to him but it was also true that some things did not make sense.

"It's just that I've never seen you around here and I was born here. There's only one school here and I've never met you before through the period when I was growing up here. You live at this old house with no guardians, no one checks on you, no adults present. Even if you own this place, an adult's got to stay with you till you're legal right? You don't go to school here, no one else's seen you before. You disappear and reappear out of thin air. And why is your surname the same as the name of the priestess?" Shikamaru was out of breath by the end of the sentence and felt slightly light headed as he caught his breath, his questions finally seeing the light of day.

Naruto rolled his eyes as he plopped down on the ground, motioning for Shikamaru to do the same. Shikamaru eagerly sat down, leaning forward to hear the answers.

"You know, I could have recently moved here from another town. The reason I don't go to this school could be that I go to another school _outside_ of this town. I don't actually appear and disappear out of thin air. I could just be really fast, ya know. Give me a break."

All the reasons sounded plausible enough but Shikamaru was like a dog with a bone.

"What about your surname? Uzumaki?"

"What about it?"

Shikamaru gritted his teeth with frustration. It was like pulling teeth and he knew Naruto was enjoying every moment of this.

"Your surname's the same as the priestess in the book I caught you reading."

"I was born here and was immediately adopted by a couple out of Konoha. My original family owned this land and house which I had recently inherited. Uzumaki is a pretty old name in Konoha, ya know."

Shikamaru watched Naruto, suspicious of his answers. It made perfect since yet…

"Really?"

Naruto watched his blue, oh so blue, eyes, head titled slightly to the side.

"Yeah."

Shikamaru nodded slowly, believing his friend.

"What about your parents? Where are they? How come you live alone?" the questions almost gushed out of him, embarrassing him slightly as to how nosy he was being.

"I'm here alone…I have something I have to take care of here. They gave me a month to be here. I will be going back in a month's time."

"But you're here by yourself!" Shikamaru protested not really seeing the logic of how Naruto's parents could have let him come here alone.

"Not really. I'm searching. I'm searching for…" here Naruto let his sentence drop off and Shikamaru caught the lost look on his face again. He looked almost pained at the trailing sentence, as if he couldn't remember what he was searching for, as if he was desperately looking for something that was beyond his reach. And suddenly Shikamaru felt that Naruto's eyes looked so old as if he had spent all this time searching, searching for…

"I'm not sure…" the whisper broke out softly and it broke Shikamaru's heart as he watched the helplessly lost look directed at him.


End file.
